All
information in this article is for educational purposes only.It is not for the diagnosis, treatment,
prescription or cure of any disease or health condition.

Carbohydrates
are “fuel” foods for our bodies.They are of two basic types:

ŠSugars. These are also called simple carbohydrates.They are quite simple molecules.Their names include glucose, fructose,
maltose, sucrose and others.They
are among the most basic of human foods.

ŠStarches.These are also called complex carbohydrates.They are made up of groups of
sugars that are bound tightly together.Their structure is more complex, and during digestion they break down
into sugars.

This article
is about starches.A separate
article discusses simple carbohydrates and is entitled Sugars.

Starches are
staple foods for people around the world.Some are very good foods, while others that are refined and processed
are not good foods today.Among
the best are brown rice, blue corn chips, and starchy vegetables such as
carrots, onions, sweet potatoes, and yams.

Starches
require a few hours to digest.This is because the starch has to be broken down into sugars in the
stomach and the intestines.

WHERE
DO COMPLEX CARBOHYDRATES COME FROM?

Ultimately,
all of our food comes from the sun and the soil.Plants and animals, to a degree, are able to absorb solar
energy and then transform it into a form that we can use to nourish and power
our bodies.These chemical forms
are called sugars, starches, proteins and fats.

CEREAL
GRAINS

The most
important group of starches are the cereal grains.The most common grain in Western societies is wheat, which
the bible calls “staff of life”.It is used in bread, pasta, pizza dough and pastries.It is also the main ingredient in
cakes, cookies, as a thickener and as breading for fried food.

Other cereal
grains include corn, rice, rye and barley.Others are millet, oats, buckwheat and some less known ones
such as quinoa, spelt, amaranth and kamut.These are the primary energy foods or staples for most
civilizations on earth.For
example, rice is the major food eaten in China, while corn is eaten widely in
Latin America.Thousands of
varieties of cereal grains are grown around the world.They are versatile, hardy crops that
can be grown in a variety of climates and soils.They literally sustain mankind in many parts of the planet.

Cereal
grains can be extremely nutritious foods if they are not overly processed or
refined.However, most today are
refined.Let us discuss what this
means in practice.

REFINED
GRAINS

Today, most
cereal grains are highly refined or processed.For example, white flour is made from wheat.However, the bran (fiber) and the germ
(embryo) are removed, leaving mainly the starchy part of the wheat.

This is a
shame because refining whole grains removes most of their vitamins and
minerals.In making white flour,
about 75% of the minerals are lost from the whole wheat.

White flour,
deceptively labeled ‘wheat flour’, contains 13% of the chromium, 9% of the
manganese, 19% of the iron, 30% of the cobalt, 10-30% of the copper and only17%
of the zinc and magnesium contained in the whole wheat.Brown rice suffers somewhat less losses
when it is refined into white rice.

Refining
whole grains not only removes most of their trace minerals.It also removes most of their essential
B vitamins.White flour contains
only 23% of the thiamine, 20% of the riboflavin, 19% of the niacin, 29% of the
pyridoxine, 50% of the pantothenic acid and 33% of the folic acid.Eighty-six percent of the vitamin E is
also lost when whole wheat is made into white flour.

Removing the
wheat bran does additional nutritional damage.Bran, which is mainly a fibrous substance, helps avoid
constipation and can assist in the production of some vitamins in the
intestinal tract.

After the
best parts of the wheat has been removed, most flour is bleached with chlorine
bleach similar to that used to whiten clothing.When cooked, it forms toxic chlorinated compounds.Many pesticides, for example, are
chlorinated hydrocarbons.

Enriched
Flour.Almost 100 years ago, tests were made
feeding only white flour to animals.The test animals developed fatal neurological problems.This is because the vitamins and minerals
in the wheat are needed to digest the flour.As a result of these experiments, our government requires
that all white flour be enriched with three B vitamins and iron.

This is
beneficial to a slight degree.However, it has caused other serious problems.First, the flour is still deficient in at least 30 other
minerals, vitamins and oils.Secondly, adding only one mineral, iron, completely unbalances the food.Minerals normally compete for
absorption with each other.

When many
minerals are removed through refining, and then a single mineral is added in
significant quantity, too much of that mineral can be absorbed, leading to
mineral imbalances.This is
exactly what occurs today.Fortunately, the non-organic form of iron in white flour is poorly
absorbed.Even so, we get too much
iron from white flour that is not balanced with other vital minerals.

OTHER
PROBLEMS WITH WHEAT

Wheat can no
longer be considered “the staff of life”.In fact, it has become one of the most common allergic foods and a food
to avoid in all forms.Many people
report that when they completely eliminate wheat from the diet they have more
energy, fewer allergies, improved digestion and they often lose weight as well.Heartburn often decreases or goes away
completely they have less gas or bloating as well.Let us examine why.

Hybridization. Wheat grown
today is extremely hybridized.This means it has been altered to produce greater yields, more bug
resistance or a better shelf life.However, it has not been bred for improved nutrition or easier
digestion, for example.

In fact, the
protein content of our wheat has declined significantly over the past century,
from about 13% to about 5-6% today.Wheat now contains more starch, less protein and fewer trace minerals.Wheat today is also extremely high in
glutamine, an amino acid that has an inflammatory effect on the body.In addition, wheat contains gluten, a
protein to which an increasing number of people are allergic.These are just a few of the effects of modern
hybridization of wheat.Newer
genetically-modified wheat may have even more problems, such as containing some
degree of pesticides that are literally bred into the plant to resist pests.

Wheat-Free
Foods.If one eats processed foods,
eliminating wheat is not easy because it is hidden in so many processed
foods.One must read labels
carefully, and even then there are occasional surprises.Those who are sensitive to gluten must
also eliminate rye, oats, spelt and barley from their diets as well.The clinical name for gluten
sensitivity is celiac disease.However, as more people are choosing to eliminate all wheat, which I
strongly recommend, more and more foods are available that are wheat-free and
even gluten-free.Eating at home
makes it much easier to avoid wheat by just staying away from wheat pasta, most
breads, cookies, cakes, breading used on deep-fried foods, thickeners and
dressings containing wheat flour.Substitutes for these are often easy to find.

The other
grains may be eaten in moderation by most people, especially brown rice, white
Basmati rice and organic blue corn chips with sea salt. Some people must avoid
most grains for a while to help lose weight or if their bodies are high in
yeast or candida albicans infection grains may bother their bodies.

STARCHY
VEGETABLES

Cooked
vegetables are a very important food group that almost everyone fails to eat
enough of.Starchy vegetables such
as roots contain some complex carbohydrates.The best root vegetables include onions, carrots, turnips,
rutabagas, golden beets, celery root and parsnips.Others, which are less healthful, are potatoes, squashes,
jicama, sweet potatoes, yams and daikon radish.

Nightshades
and yin vegetables.Potatoes,
along with tomatoes, eggplant, peppers and a few others are in the nightshade
family of vegetables.This group
of foods contains certain toxins that cause reactions in sensitive
individuals.Squash, along with
peppers, tomatoes and a few other vegetables, are, in fact, fruits and are far
more yin in Chinese medical terminology.For this reason, these are less recommended for daily fare.An occasional serving is okay, however.

Root
vegetables are often easier to digest than cereal grains, and much less
allergenic for most people than wheat.Roots and tubers usually need cooking to help break down their fiber and
make them easier to digest.

Starchy
vegetables should be a major part of your diet if you are
health-conscious.They are tasty
and nutritious by themselves, in soups and in casseroles.They keep well in the refrigerator and
are generally inexpensive.

LEGUMES
OR DRIED BEANS

Another
set of foods high in complex carbohydrates is dried beans or legumes.These include lentils, pinto beans,
navy beans, garbanzos and black-eyed peas. Others are lentils, red beans, azuki beans, peanuts,
soybeans, black beans and others.

Dried
beans are staple foods in many cultures, as they are inexpensive, nutritious
and they keep well.However, they
are not a major part of the diets we recommend.Reasons for this are:

1.While they are rich in certain amino acids, their protein
content is rather imbalanced.They
are not as high quality proteins as eggs, meats and other animal products.This is not helpful for many people,
especially in Western nations.

2. They are more yin in Chinese medical
terminology.

3. They are low in a quality we call
etheric energy.This is a life
energy quality that increases when one is in the animal realm, but is less in
the vegetable kingdom.

Soy. Soy should
be fermented for best digestion, as is done with tofu, tempeh, and miso and
other fermented soy products.Fermenting soybeans helps destroy enzyme inhibitors, phytates and other
harmful chemicals they contain.For this reason, I do not recommend soy protein isolate, soymilks, soy
burgers and other soy products that have not been fermented.

An
important point about all starches is they begin to be digested in the mouth.
They will become sweet if you chew each bite at least 10 times.So chew your starches thoroughly.

FIBER

Some
carbohydrates are not well digested by human beings.We call these fibers. These serve as roughage.Sometimes vegetable fibers are
classified as soluble and insoluble fibers.Soluble fibers include psyllium and pectin, among
others.Insoluble fibers include
cellulose and bran from wheat, oats or other grains.Cellulose forms the structure of most plants and can be
digested by some animals.Pectin
is a fruit fiber.

Fibers are
an important group of food products for the following reasons:

1. Fibers
create bulk in the intestines that help move food along in the intestines.

2. Some
fibers are used for the synthesis of vitamins in the intestines.

3. Fiber is
very important to absorb certain toxins and other chemicals as food passes
through the intestines.One of the
most important chemicals they absorb is cholesterol, secreted in the bile.However, there are many, many
others as well.All foods contain
toxic chemicals in small quantities.Fiber is essential to bind many of these harmful chemicals and remove
them from the body. Soluble fibers such as pectin, alginates and others can
absorb toxic metals as well.

4. Certain
fibers can slow the absorption of sugars in the diet, helping to maintain a
more balanced blood sugar level.

5. Fibers
can sometimes be broken down in the intestines and used as food.In these cases, the fiber is not
serving as roughage, but it actually used as food.This is less common in human beings, however.

Most foods
contain some fiber.One of the
worst sins against healthful eating is the removal of the bran fiber from
grains such as wheat, corn and other cereal grains that occurs during the
refining process.This tends to
cause constipation in those eating white flour and to some extent white rice
products.

CARBOHYDRATES
AND WEIGHT GAIN

Overeating
on carbohydrates is a major cause of excessive weight gain.A common misconception is that eating
fat makes one fat.However, most
weight gain today is due to overeating on refined sugars and, to a lesser extent,
eating complex carbohydrates in excess.

Let us
explain why people believe that eating fat makes one fat, and why it is not
true:

1.
Carbohydrates provide four calories (energy units) per gram, while fats provide
nine calories per gram.This leads
many doctors and health authorities to think that fats make you fat, but
carbohydrates do not.However, our
bodies easily convert carbohydrates to fats through the action of insulin and
other hormones.

2. Eating
carbohydrates increases insulin secretion, and decreases zinc, magnesium and
other vital minerals.This can
contribute to weight gain and many other diseases.Eating high quality fats does not increase insulin secretion
as much.

3. Breads,
pasta, fruit and sweets can also alter neurotransmitter levels in ways that
cause a calming effect.This can
be addictive for some people, leading to overeating on these foods.Dr. Robert Atkins, MD, a cardiologist
in New York City, did quite extensive research on this subject.Although he was scorned for years, his
research has been shown to be valid.

Here are
simple tips to avoid overeating on these sweets and starches:

1. Make sure
the carbohydrates you eat are unrefined only.This alone is most helpful.This means to eat only whole grains such as brown rice,
yellow corn tortillas, and only the organic blue corn tortilla chips.Do not eat anything made with wheat
flour, such as flour tortillas, white or “rye” breads unless 100% rye flour,
white rice or white sugar in any form or product.This will limit your soda pop, ice cream, cookies, cakes,
and much more.Also avoid anything
sweetened with fruit juices, as these also count as concentrated sugars with
few other nutrients in them.

2. If you
must have honey or maple syrup, make sure it is 100% pure and not laced with
sugar and use as little as possible.

3. Be sure
to ask for what you want at restaurants.This way more restaurants will begin to offer the higher quality
foods.Ask that the bread be
removed from the table.

4. Eat some
fats or oils at least twice daily if you are used to eating a lot of
carbohydrates.This way you will
not be so hungry for starches and sugars.Most people also need to eat protein at least twice daily to avoid sweet
cravings.

5. If you
are hypoglycemic, or just trying to reduce your carbohydrate intake, eat 4 or 5
small meals during the day of a protein food and some fat and vegetables.This will help maintain your blood
sugar and prevent cravings.

6. Eat only
fresh fruit or frozen berries, and very little of it.Avoid all dried fruit, all sweet fruit like dates, figs and
bananas and avoid canned and baked fruit as well.

7. Eat
carbohydrates with a low glycemic index.This topic is covered in the next section.

THE
GLYCEMIC INDEX

All
carbohydrate foods raise the level of glucose in the blood.This is considered an unhealthy quality
of carbohydrates.The glycemic
index of a food tells to what extent a food raises the glucose level in the
blood relative to other foods. To eat lower glycemic index foods, here are a
guidelines:

ŠEat cereals with oats, barley or bran.

ŠIf you eat bread, make sure it is whole-grain, stone ground
and sourdough.

ŠWhen eating salads, use vinaigrette dressing rather than
blue cheese, thousand island or other sweetened dressings.

The
Internet offers long lists of foods and their glycemic index.However, we find that this is not the
most important quality of a food to pay attention to.It is far more important to avoid refined grains, all sugars
and in particular, avoid all wheat products.